Activision’s Skylanders erases the line between toy and video game

Skylanders takes action figures, turns them into characters in the video game …

Skylanders was first shown at Toy Fair, not at a video game event, and that decision makes sense. This is a product that works on a few levels, including the irrational need to collect things, and to level them up. The cynical part of me wants to call this a money-grab, but the more child-like part has already fallen in love with the concept, especially after I was given the chance to play with the toys and the game.

Here's the trick: by placing a toy on a portal that connects to your system via USB, you transport it into the game, level it up and unlock new powers and upgrades. You can switch out your playable character at any time, and a friend can likewise put a toy on to play with you. All the information is stored on the toy itself, so you can bring the action figure to a friend's house and keep your data. It's as fun in action as it sounds in print.

Playing the game

"Do you want to play?" the Activision representative asked me when he saw me eying the game. I said yes, and stepped up to the television. "Pick a character, and get to it!" There were a few different plastic toys on the display, but I zeroed in on Spyro himself, put him on the portal, within a beat or two the virtual Spyro warped onto the screen.

The game itself plays like Gauntlet, with a lot of running around, item collection, and whaling on the enemies. The stylized, animated look was inviting, and I had already begun to look forward to playing this with my kids. The representative was getting restless watching me play alone, so he grabbed another member of the press, who chose a little imp with two guns to place on the portal. The character warped into the game, and soon we were playing co-op.

The game feels like a child-friendly Gauntlet

The speed in which you can switch characters was impressive, as was the physical action of swapping out toys. If you're in an ice area, find yourself a fire character and swap him out. If you're in a fire area, bring in your water character. It takes only a second for the portal to read the toy and bring that character into the game to continue the fight. Different characters are more or less powerful in certain areas, and the game will tell you when you're being given an elemental advantage. At launch there will be support for 32 characters, and the starter pack will come with three characters, the USB portal, and the game for around $70. You'll be able to buy booster packs of toys for an unspecified price to grow your collection of characters.

The portal glows different colors depending on your toy's element

The ability to drop in a second player at any time and the fact that the toy itself holds all the level and item data for the character adds a nice bit of complexity to the game. You can bring your toy to a friend's house to share loot and play with your powerful character, and there will also be arenas included in the game so you can pit your characters against each other in battle. The toys themselves are well sculpted, have bright paint jobs, and look great on display.

The initial game and set of toys already look fun, and I had a great time playing with strangers while getting a feel for this action. This concept has huge potential outside of this release, however. Could you imagine Star Wars toys that could be placed on the portal to duel each other? Activision already has the license to make Transformers games, and bringing those toys over to this idea would be a savvy move. Keeping a fully interactive toy in your pocket, complete with in-game virtual loot and customization, is a neat trick.

We first played the game at a pre-E3 event in the Los Angeles, and before E3 itself began Activision sent me one of the toys to hype the game, and invited me to come back to begin to level my character. The first hit is always free, right?